The month of November is a "bad" period

Sri Lankans are a superstitious people; astrologers, soothsayers and fortune tellers earn a tidy sum catering to the various neuroses of the people. The rulers are, by common consent, more superstitious than most, events of state such as the impeachment motion on the Chief Justice are carefully aligned to the movements of the stars, planets or deities that watch over the country.

Critics of such beliefs, such as myself are a small and diminishing minority. As any member of Colombo's Hi!! magazine set instinctively realise, its no fun trying to have a party one ones own. Therefore the time is right for the sundry remaining jokers to join the bandwagon of superstition.

I shall therefore start my own tradition: November shall be declared a "bad" month, during which no important activities should take place. Ceasar was asked to beware of the ides of March,  he ignored the warning in the mistaken belief that he was being forewarned of tax day. After all, Caesar does not pay tax on that day, he collects.

In Sri Lanka budget day falls in November, a good enough reason to declare the month bad, but much else seems to happen. Chandrika Bandaranaike launched coup d’état nine years ago in November and this year, the month has claimed more victims.

In another time, in another place called Ceylon there existed a certain nutcase by the name of Abraham Kovoor. Relentless in his campaign against superstition, he lived by a rather silly creed:

He who does not allow his miracles to be investigated is a crook; he who does not have the courage to investigate a miracle is a gullible; and he who is prepared to believe without verification is a fool!   

He, and his ideals are all now thankfully dead. The Miracle of Asia is self evident, no questions need be asked and anyway, who needs a party pooper?  And beware of the month of November.